Dark Inside Blog Tour: Delightful Debutantes with Jeyn Roberts.

Today's Delightful Debutante is Jeyn Roberts author of Dark Inside one of my very favourite books of 2011. I couldn't get enough of this book, and if you want to know why just head on over to my review.

I'm very happy to have Jeyn on the blog as part of the blog tour for Dark Inside. This is one book that you all need to put on your reading lists! Read on to find out more about Jeyn and her delightful (if terrifying!) debut!

One of my favourite books of 2011 Dark Inside is a truly stunning genre defying read. In a sentence I would describe the book as ‘Apocalyptic awesomeness for horror fanatics everywhere’. How would you describe Dark Inside to potential readers? I don’t think I can beat apocalyptic awesomeness for horror fanatics. I love that! Can I steal it? I have a tough one with trying to label Dark Inside. I don’t really think it’s dystopian but I can see how it falls under that category. I personally like to think of it as horror with an end-of-the-world twist.

Dark Inside contains some truly chilling moments, and with the focus on mankind bringing about his own destruction the message in this book hits very close to home.  What inspired you to write Dark Inside? When I was a teenager I used to have these reoccurring dreams about a damaged world that often took place beside a river. I was often with a group of people and we would be hiding out in a house or apartment. There were often the same people. As the years passed, the dreams continued and they filled out more. There was something evil haunting my dreams and one night I woke up with the word ‘Baggers’ on my mind. Dark Inside is based loosely on these dreams. In fact, some of the scenes are straight out of my sleep induced brain.

UK Cover

Dark Inside had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish with its intense, exciting plot, but its not all murder and mayhem.  Dark Inside also contains some wonderful characters such as Aries who I loved watching grow in strength as the story progressed and Daniel who I am totally intrigued by. Who was your favourite character to write, and why? I love writing Nothing because I can say the most awesomely strange things and they make sense coming from his/her brain. I also love Mason because he’s so damaged and such a challenge. Sometimes I want to toss him off a cliff, other times I want to give him a hug.

The UK and US covers for Dark Inside are both very different, but equally striking and brilliantly representative of the book. What are your favourite elements of each cover? The UK cover is amazing in its stark whiteness with the big crack down the middle. The US cover of course has the really cool eyes and the destroyed city in the background. I love both covers so much!

Horror is my first literary love, and it is all I read as a teen.  What books were on your favourites shelf as a teen and did any of the authors you read back then inspire you to become a writer? As a teenager I didn’t read a lot of YA, mostly because there wasn’t as much as there is today. I read a lot of Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine but what I really loved was adult horror. I was reading Stephen King by the time I was eleven and it used to terrify me. I also read a lot of Dean Koontz and Robert McCammon. 

US Cover

Can you recommend three other books that readers of Dark Inside might also enjoy reading? Oh boy. Just three? Hmmm. I just finished reading Blood Red Road and I thought it was brilliant. I also have been enjoying the Gone series. And for those who love end-of-the-world stories, I have to mention Stephen King’s The Stand. One of my favorite books of all time.

The ending of Dark Inside left me with lots of food for thought, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.  Can you tell me anything about the next book in the series? (Working title: Sanctuary) I like a little romance to go along with my horror, and I’m wondering if there’s a possibility of romance in the next book? Yes, the working title so far is Sanctuary. Basically it takes place three months after the earthquakes and Mason, Michael, Clementine, and Aries are still together (along with the others and a few new characters). Only now the Baggers are starting to rebuild society and they’re rounding up the survivors. Some of them, they kill—the others are forced into slavery. Yes, there is going to be some romance but I’m not gonna say who! Some of them are starting to pair up and there are some good twists thrown in too. You’ll just have to wait and read for yourself.

I can't wait to find out what happens next! Thanks to Jeyn for a great interview! Dark Inside is out now in the UK and Ireland and will be released in the US on November 1st 2011.


The Dark Inside Blog Tour continues on Monday at Tall Tales and Short Stories. 

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